TIDAL POWER firm Atlantis said a €17 million funding transfer deal for its Scottish project had been approved by European Commission's Climate Change Committee.

The funding had originally been awarded to the Kyle Rhea project, a tidal stream array project between the Isle of Skye and the west coast of Scotland, being developed by the Marine Current Turbines group which was acquired by Atlantis from Siemens this year in July 2015.

It has now been transferred to Atlantis's MeyGen project, the world's largest planned tidal stream energy project in the Pentland Firth.

The will accelerate the development of the MeyGen project, with this second phase targeted to reach financial close and commence construction during 2016.

Atlantis had applied to the European Commission to have the funding transferred so it could benefit of a more advanced tidal energy project.

The first tranche of €10 million will be made available on 1 April 2016.

Tim Cornelius, chief executive of Atlantis, said:

“The EC's continued support for tidal power via the MeyGen and the Sound of Islay projects underlines Scotland's position as the world's leading tidal power region and reflects the strong support the industry has received from the Scottish government.”